Dear Friends,
One of the bi products of being a pastor is that you develop a
lot of friends you can count on to help you write your sermons. They either do
it unknowingly and you use them as illustrations or examples, or they do it
knowingly, as happened a couple of weeks ago, when I asked a friend of mine if
she had any good illustrations on depression.
My friend, Tina Reeder, with whom I served while I was on staff
at Calvary Chapel, Fort Lauderdale, was quick to share a personal illustration.
Tina is wise beyond her years. She never secured a D. D. (Doctor of
Divinity) degree from some prestigious seminary. No, her degree came from
the desert. She possessed, a “Desert Doctorate, just like Moses and John the
Baptist and Jesus, who like her, had spent some time learning lessons in the
desert.
Sometime ‘desert degrees’ can be far more valuable learning
experiences than the ones you get in the classroom setting
The Apostle John got his “Desert Doctorate” in
isolation on a far-off barren island called Patmos. In this lonely desert
experience, God spoke, and John listened and the words he heard and
the visions he saw are now recorded in the 22 chapters of the Book of
Revelation.
Like John and my friend Tina, your days may be dry, desolate and
difficult, but maybe God has you right where you need to be.
Listen to what my friend Tina learned during her desert days
after losing the husband she had just married in a tragic motorcycle accident.
She went through a long period of grieving, only to come through it stronger
that she was before. This is the story she shared with me when she learned I
would be speaking on depression.
I used to call it my “little black cloud days”. It
was those days when I just couldn’t shake it, the feeling of sadness,
loneliness, sometimes despair. When it was an effort to keeping moving
forward and I longed to just get home and crawl back into bed, pull the covers
over my head and sleep until it went away. This would happen often after
James died but then seemed to dissipate gradually. Sometimes my “little
black cloud” would linger all day, other times it would be just for a time,
disappear and reappear later that day. Not sure what caused it to come,
linger, dissipate or reappear but after months and years of this I finally inquired
of the Lord. “Lord, is this just what I will deal with? The
grief? For how long? Will it ever totally go away?” And as
the Lord often does, He spoke gently to my heart, “Daughter, my precious one,
make friends with the “little black cloud” because in it you will find
me”. Therefore, I did. I welcomed that cloud and sensed His
presence. Did it take away the feelings of loneliness, or sadness?
No. But it gave me hope, purpose and comfort in those feelings".
Your struggle may not be with depression, but whatever is may
be, I hope you will find comfort and encouragement in this
lesson from my ‘desert friend.’
Sometimes in gazing at your 'little black cloud' you may find
the source of your healing. It may not be exactly what you were looking for,
but it’s just what you need, and it comes as a gracious gift from a God who
loves you far more than you could ever know.
In closing may I remind you that “There is no problem that
is so big for God's power or too small for Gods concern.”
And if your doubt this, turn to Isaiah 41:10 and you
will read, “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your
God, I will help you and strengthen you and uphold you with
my righteous right hand.”
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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